1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video camera. More specifically, the present invention is applied to a video camera having a normal mode in which an image is displayed on a monitor by processing a camera signal outputted from all charge areas of a CCD imager, and a high-speed mode (a) quadruplication mode, for example in which suceeding four (4) images are displayed on the monitor by processing camera signals repeatedly outputted from one of quarter areas of the charge area, and in which picture quality associated elements such as a focus, an iris and a white balance are adjusted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Examples of a video camera having the quadruplication mode are described in Japanese Patent Application Laying-open No. 63-250287 [H04N5/225, H04N5/30, H04N5/335, H04N3/00] laid-open on Oct. 18, 1988, Japanese Patent Application Laying-open No. 7-212657 [H04N5/335, H01L27/12] laid-open on Aug. 11, 1996, and a U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/188,543 [H04N5/335, H01L27/12] filed on Jan. 28, 1994.
On the other hand, in a video camera, in automatically controlling a focus, for example, an integration value of a high-frequency luminance signal included in a video signal to be outputted on a focus area formed at a center of a monitor is calculated, and a focus lens is moved to a position at which the integration value becomes maximum.
In the above described prior art, since the focus area is always formed at the center of the monitor, it was impossible to suitably control the focus in the quadruplication mode. More specifically, in the normal mode, the focus area FA is formed at the center of the monitor as shown in FIG. 51A, and the focus is controlled on the basis of the video signal including a main object M, and therefore, it is possible to bring the main object M in focus; however; in the quadruplication mode, the focus area FA is formed at a position deviating from the main object M as shown in FIG. 51B, and therefore, it is impossible to bring the main object M in focus. Such a problem also happened in controlling the iris or the white balance.